William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. Invests $1.85 Million in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 44,919 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,852,000. Verizon Communications accounts for 1.2% of William B. Walkup & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Verizon Communications during the 4th quarter valued at $3,346,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 15.4% during the second quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 283,160 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $11,678,000 after buying an additional 37,732 shares during the period. Mosley Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Verizon Communications in the fourth quarter valued at about $433,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications by 4.4% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22,894 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $961,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 196.3% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 647,218 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $24,400,000 after acquiring an additional 428,776 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Stock Performance

VZ opened at $44.89 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $188.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $41.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.95. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.14 and a 52-week high of $45.05.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.15. The company had revenue of $32.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.05 billion. Verizon Communications had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 20.10%. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.678 dividend. This is a positive change from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.04%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Monday, July 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America increased their target price on Verizon Communications from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Verizon Communications from $45.50 to $46.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.09.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).